Review: Jess Williamson – Sorceress

Mary Varvaris May 18, 2020

Something spellbinding occurs on “How Ya Lonesome,” the midway point of Sorceress – the fourth album from Texas-native, LA-based musician Jess Williamson – her already magnetic universe opens up before us in a kaleidoscope of hazy ‘70s cinema and meditative psychedelia, offering a story of love and uncertainty beside weaving pedal steel guitar, piano and synths. Sorceress sees Williamson remain true to her country roots while growing in ambition.

Williamson weaves untamed love letters to our confounding present and uncertain future – accompanied by musings on femininity (she questions what it means to be an aging woman in this society on “Ponies in Town”: “Am I aging well? Am I just an aging well?”), the pursuit of perfection; a search for meaning via Tarot, astrology apps and crystals; evocative critiques of capitalism and living online and details the lives and deaths of loved ones. Sorceress is an album about loss – lost innocence and facing mortality head-on – and self-assured insight. These reflections orbit around Williamson’s superb voice, a pure voice, a voice of might and vulnerability.

Craig Manning May 15, 2020

Jason Isbell is telling ghost stories.

Sometimes, the things that happen to us in our lives register immediately. Other times, years or decades have to pass for us to fully comprehend how a person or occurrence changed us. Time and experience lend perspective. They give us the wisdom necessary to look back and re-read the pages of our lives, reconvene with our former selves. That’s why reflection is so important, and it’s also why hearing one of our greatest living songwriters look back and commune with the ghosts of his past is so thrilling. Isbell has long been a master of craft: his songs have conveyed the struggles of addiction, the healing and humanizing powers of love, the joys of parenthood. But never before has he captured so thoroughly the bizarre and beguiling feeling of spending a moment inside a memory. On Reunions, by delving into his own past, this master songwriter finds new things to say about experience and identity, and about how the very act of living changes the stories we think are worth telling about our lives. It might just be his greatest album yet.

Isbell has gone on record to say that the songs on this album were things he wanted to write 15 years ago, but there were barriers in his way. “In those days, I hadn’t written enough songs to know how to do it yet,” he said. He hadn’t yet honed his songcraft into the razor-sharp knife it is now. He hadn’t gotten sober, which meant murky nights and hungover days with not enough energy left over to focus on the deeply personal layers he would need to excavate to tell these stories. Perhaps most of all, he hadn’t given himself enough time or distance to understand just how deeply the ghosts in these songs would prove to haunt him. It’s unnerving the way that regrets or papered-over traumas from our pasts tend to worm their way deeper and deeper into the recesses of our minds as years go by. Eventually, you end up alone with your thoughts on some solitary night, with nothing to do but dredge up those specters and let them speak. Reunions is the sonic equivalent of that kind of reckoning.

Adam Grundy May 13, 2020

Mike Henneberger just wants you to listen. Whether that entails listening to that voice inside your head that tells you what’s right from wrong, the music blaring through the headphones that connect with you on a deeper level than you could ever begin to describe to someone, or by taking some of his advice so eloquently written in the new memoir he has affectionately titled Rock Bottom at the Renaissance: An Emo Kid’s Journey Through Falling In and Out of Love in and With New York City. We process our journeys through this crazy thing called life in all different shapes and forms, and that’s the beauty of it. No one has the perfect pill or cure for navigating through life, but music seems to be the closest miracle for a lot of us to deal with the shit that comes up daily.

In this “mixtape memoir,” Henneberger carefully crafts his thoughts on living in New York City and how it’s easy to fall somewhere in the void of being in love with the city and loathing it just as often. Henneberger also shares his struggles with mental illness and the music that kept him alive throughout it all. By connecting each of these chapters in his book to a different song in this mixtape, he has created a clever work of art in his own right by making sense of how music can truly save us from the darkest of thoughts. I feel that everyone will be able to take something special out of this memoir by reading how Henneberger describes his emotions in painstaking detail in his quest for understanding what makes him tick. Not to mention, the music he outlines each chapter with is very near and dear to my heart as well, and I’m sure it will hit the right notes with many of us who frequent this site. The playlist can be found on Spotify and Apple Music. Pre-orders are now up, and the book will be available everywhere starting on June 9th.

Craig Manning May 11, 2020

When The National reemerged in 2010, they were primed to explode. It didn’t matter that they were coming up on their fifth album and had already passed the milestone that marked their first decade together as a band. They were, as people have often described their albums, a slow burn, or a grower, and by the time the new decade began, their fuse was ready to blow. 2007’s Boxer had changed the game for the Cincinnati fourpiece in more ways than one, turning them into prestige indie darlings, landing songs on the soundtracks of virtually every moody drama on television, and even earning them a small but memorable role in the campaign of a presidential hopeful named Barack Obama. By the time The National appeared on Jimmy Fallon in March of 2010 to officially kick off the rollout for High Violet, with a majestic performance of “Terrible Love,” it was clear they were ready to be rock stars.

Adam Grundy May 7, 2020

Coming off of a successful debut album brings a lot of added pressure and attention towards your next effort. Luckily for us, Diet Cig are well up to the task at hand as they pick up right where they left off on Swear I’m Good At This with some more self-described “slop pop” here on Do You Wonder About Me? When I last spoke with guitarist/vocalist Alex Luciano and drummer Noah Bowman in regards to what they had in mind for their next album, their optimism infectiously carried over into the recording process for this record. The dynamic duo of Luciano and Bowman has crafted a satisfying sophomore album that expands upon the ideas introduced on their debut, and they fully realize their potential as artists on this LP.

Review: The Used – Heartwork

Adam Grundy May 4, 2020

There were a lot of moving parts that came together to make Heartwork, the eighth full-length studio album from The Used. For starters, the band made the conscious effort to reconnect with their longtime collaborator/producer John Feldman. The Used also welcomed a new guitarist, Joey Bradford, into the fold for this album as a permanent band member. Lastly, the band decided to use some outside collaborations, including Travis Barker, Mark Hoppus, Jason Butler, and Caleb Shomo, to enhance their sound on this album further. All of these efforts paid off as The Used have created one of their strongest and most cohesive albums in years.

Review: Hala – Red Herring

Mary Varvaris May 1, 2020

When we discuss romantic comedy films, we think about the leads, namely (for me, anyway) the self-deprecating humor of Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts’ undeniable charm and wit. Conversely, we also think of the songs that soundtrack first kisses, heartbreak, and the cheesy romantic gesture leading to our gorgeous couple’s reconciliation. Maybe it’s the heart-warming ending of The Breakfast Club, with the triumphant “(Don’t You) Forget About Me,” immediately springing to mind. Maybe you adore Love Actually and can’t help swooning over “White Flag” by Dido. Or the playing of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” as Hugh Grant’s Will mourns rejecting Julia Roberts’ Anna in Notting Hill. No matter what song comes to mind for you, here’s the star whose music should feature in the next Netflix rom-com: Hala.

Review: Conversation – Realization / Release

Adam Grundy Apr 30, 2020

Toronto post-hardcore rockers Conversation are set to release their second EP in the “Honesty EPs” collection called Realization / Release. It’s on this new EP that they continue to expand upon their influences that range from scene heavy-hitters such as the Deftones and Underoath, with the pop sensibilities of Silverstein. The record was produced by Sam Guaiana (Silverstein, Hundred Suns), who brings out the best in the Canadian band. With intricate guitar parts, soaring vocal melodies, and post-hardcore elements thrown into the mix, Conversation has made a dramatic artistic statement on their latest record.

Review: Forever Honey – Pre-Mortem High EP

Mia Hughes Apr 24, 2020

In some alternate universe, in a John Hughes soundtrack that never was, exists Forever Honey’s ‘Christian,’ 30-some years earlier than it would come to exist in ours. The opening track of the Brooklyn band’s new EP ‘Pre-Mortem High,’ ‘Christian’ is all zig-zagging bass, jangling guitar and rapturous synth, a coming of age scene in a new wave palette; some escapade on a warm summer night, a joyful high tinged with the mourning in knowing it won’t last.

As it is, ‘Pre-Mortem High’ was written not for a movie but for the moments in our young lives that feel cinematic anyway. When emotions are intensified to fill a panorama, when every word spoken feels vital. ‘Christian’ feels ecstatic yet filled with painful disappointment; conversely, end track ‘Where We Are Sometimes’ is devastating yet full of hopeful love. It’s an encapsulation of the intensity of youth, the certainty that every conflicting feeling is entirely congruous.

Review: City Mouth – Coping Machine

Adam Grundy Apr 23, 2020

I want to introduce you to your next favorite band: City Mouth. Running out of the gate with shimmering synths, infectious harmonies, and melancholy lyrics with a tint of hope, this Chicago-based band is on to something special on their latest LP that they have affectionately titled Coping Machine. Drawing comparisons to the synth-pop sensibilities of Motion City Soundtrack and clever songwriting of The Format, City Mouth has carefully crafted a collection of songs dealing with thematic elements such as preserving one’s mental health and staying true to yourself. The album was mixed by Marc McClusky (Weezer, Motion City Soundtrack), and his dedication to bringing out the best in the band comes shining out of the speakers from the very first listen.

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Review: Papa Roach – Infest

Adam Grundy Apr 22, 2020

“Cut my life into pieces / This is my last resort!” With those loaded words, Papa Roach immediately gained the attention of an army of misguided teens looking for their way in a confusing world. Infest was a massive record for a lot of reasons. In essence, it had a great lead single in “Last Resort,” fantastic marketing, perfect timing in the rap-rock scene, as well as ultra-talented musicians backing up what they wanted to accomplish in their sound. The music landscape in 2000 was littered with tons of rap-rock bands looking for their breakthrough in a crowded, and at times, confusing rock scene. What made Papa Roach stand out from the pack was their ability to grab their audience from the first listen and give them a feeling of belonging to something bigger than themselves. I’m sure many of us can remember the first time we heard the guitar riff of the lead single on the music video that seemed to be airing on MTV more often than not, and how it made us all feel something.

Review: Incubus – Trust Fall (Side B)

Adam Grundy Apr 20, 2020

With their first new music released in three years, Incubus has returned with an expansive EP called Trust Fall (Side B). Much like their last release, 8, the music presented on this EP tackle a wide range of emotions and styles. What I have always appreciated about this band is that they never make the same record twice, and they continue to push the boundaries of their expectations on what their music is and can be. This record is no exception to this rule, as Incubus continues to cover new ground on this collection of songs.

Review: The Strokes – The New Abnormal

Adam Grundy Apr 16, 2020

When I first listened to the new album from The Strokes, I wasn’t quite sure what to think of it. It had everything that I have come to expect from a Strokes release, but I felt like it was missing some ingredient to it that made it feel complete. These feelings quickly evaporated the more I listened to The New Abnormal as it has become my favorite Strokes album since their incredible debut. This odd transition of uncertainty to favorability speaks a lot to the bands’ character and approach to songwriting. The New Abnormal is The Strokes’ first new album in seven years, their sixth studio album in total, and was expertly crafted under the tutelage of legendary producer Rick Rubin. There is plenty to unpack on this latest release that features plenty more ups than downs.

Review: The Menzingers – Chamberlain Waits

Brett Bodner Apr 14, 2020

The Menzingers released their second album, Chamberlain Waits a decade ago, and what a decade it’s been for them. It was an album that would build the foundation for a small town Pennsylvania-rooted band that would go on to consistently pack venues with fans all over the world.

Chamberlain Waits represents The Menzingers on the cusp of pulling off something truly special. While 2012’s On the Impossible Past is the staple Menzingers album (with After the Party in a close second place), Chamberlain Waits had all of the ingredients of what makes the Menzingers great; Relatable lyrics that set a scene in your head, catchy choruses that make you want to scream them at the top of your lungs and guitar riffs that will hook you in immediately.

Review: The Wildfires Projekt – From Which We Came

Adam Grundy Apr 13, 2020

On the latest EP from The Wildfires Projekt, the wide range of emotions felt while listening to the record only further showcases the tragic beauty of the world we are all living in right now. This band is comprised of Johnny Zirkel and was co-written/produced by Ronnie Winter (The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus), and the duo of artists work very well together. The record teeters on the edge of post-hardcore in the same vein as Circa Survive and Saosin, with plenty of newer elements thrown into the mix as well. With a wide range of themes such as tackling depression, anxiety, and addiction, The Wildfires Projekt has crafted a well thought out collection of songs worthy of your attention.